Research in transfusion medicine is vital to the future of the field and, downstream, to the safety of recipients of transfusion and cellular therapies worldwide. The Emory Center for Transfusion and Cellular Therapies (CTCT) is one of the largest, most comprehensive academic transfusion medicine programs in the nation and is dedicated to excellence in clinical service, outstanding basic, translational and clinical research, and the clinical and research-based training of future leaders in the field. The T32 Post-Doctoral Scientist Training Program is a critical element in both ^ contributing to, and fulfilling the mission of, the Emory CTCT. If funded, this grant would provide' salary support for one new post-doctoral CTCT Research Trainee per year for a 5-year period to participate in a two-year, highly structured, mentored training program in transfusion medicine research. We aim to fill the acknowledged need for basic, translation, and interdisciplinary research training in transfusion medicine. The program strengths are identified with the Principal Investigator/ Program Director; the organization of the training plan as a small-scale program emphasizing high-quality candidates and research projects; the involvement of senior faculty with strong scientific, funding, and training records; and the provision of specific mechanisms for educating fellow and externally evaluating the training program. To further underscore the program's commitment to providing direct personal effort in training post-doctoral research fellows, the faculty mentors have been limited to only those with significant funding and proven track records in training early-career investigators. The Program was initially funded in 2004 and thus far, 2 individuals have completed the two-year program, one individual is in his second year,! .and one.fellow started her first year in July 2007 with planned completion after renewal, if funded, in 2009. To date, our T32 fellows have been highly successful as evidenced by abstract presentations, manuscript publications, grant applications, and Steering Committee review. The Program Director greatly appreciates the funding of this important program and the time and effort volunteered by the reviewers in summarizing and supporting this application.